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Ricardo -> RE: Advice on Choice of Bulerias (Feb. 14 2008 18:07:51)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: cathulu
So what to do for 12 beat bulerias "12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11"
tap your foot on 12 2 4 6 8 10 or 1 3 5 7 9 11 for a different vibe?
or 12 3 6 8 10 (like "I want to live in America" lyric from Westside Story)?
or 1 2 4 5 7 8 10 11
Do you mix all of them depending on the feel of the rhytym or falseta? Would you recommend one over any of the others if you can only learn one of them?
This has been covered in the archives. Look for "foot tapping" and things about compas.
"Warning, nerd mode again".
Basically I would think the most fundamental is 12,2,4, 6,8 10, but it is important to see the grouping more simply:
12,2,4
6,8,10.
Really that way you see the half compas more clearly, or rather, you learn to feel the down beats on 12 and 6. You may notice that count 10 or 4 are the ending beats. What about 3? Well, honestly when you close on 10 with a simple rasgeado say, you are actually starting it on 9, so you can see how 3 or 9 have the same feeling in the rhythm. So you CAN tap the foot this way too:
12,3
6,9
Again you can see the symmetry there. The combo of the two patterns results in the popular:
12,3
6,8,10
Problem is that too many students get "stuck" on that, and can never break out of that box, loosen up, and feel the SAFER, shorter length groove that is inherent to the rhythm, and then be free to shift between "half compases" when needed for dancers and singers, (or even just in a falseta), by feel without thinking or counting.
Lets forget about counting to 12 for a minute, or call those numbers "8th notes", then re number them by FOOT beats. Think about other dance styles where the dancer counts off "5,6,7,8" then starts dancing. Think about it, why 8??? When is there music written in 8/4???(rhetorical). Same logic applies to the dancers "siete, ocho, nueve, diez, un, do....". They count off too many numbers.
So my first bulerias above, where I had 12,2,4, that would be your foot just doing 3 taps: 1,2,3. So 6,8,10 would be 4,5,6. So 6/4=a full compas. But notice I made two separate lines. So lets just forget the redundant "4,5,6". The basic count is "1,2,3" and again, "1,2,3"....or not. To only have the top line would be an odd meaure, or a "half compas" as they call it. But that is OK as we hopefully know by now.
So for me bulerias is simply, "1,2,3" with 16th note subdivision between, mixed up and accented however you do it. There are many ways. That is why Guitarbudda's upload long ago of Bach's lute suite in E major, works fine in bulerias.
The other legit feel was 12,3,6,9. That is just, 1,2,1,2, for me, but the dotted quarter note gets the beat this time. They call that 6/8 meter usually. Again not 12/8 because you can have the half compases. So some transcribers mix both meters, 3/4 alternates with 6/8. Fine, but again, the FEEL should be reflected in a transcription depending on the composers intent or foot tap. And there need not be a hard rule about the alternations. It can be a long passage, all 6/8, or vice versa. Again video is great to figure that out. Remember, most flamenco maestros are not thinking about 12's at all, but a basic 3/4 meter on paper conveys a rhythmic feeling to the reader.
Sorry this is long winded, but last thing. PDL's and others, 1,2,4,5,7,8,10,11. Again I find it reduntant to count all the way to 12 so lets limit it to 1,2,4,5, understand 6 [8|] is the downbeat. OK, so what is the deal? Well that goes with the palmas. Or rather, a soloist can provide percussion accompaniment with his foot. If you encounter some palmas a little dragging or rushing, because of the spaces left, or what you accent, AND you like some contra tiempo, then that foot tap helps you lock in better with your palmero good or bad. The little pause gives your leg muscle a break rather than having to tap every 8th note that fast. So this type of tapping is akin to the jazz guys GB mentioned that tap 2 and 4 like a snare drum, on up tempo swing tunes. It is a way to make percussion and lock in better with a group that puts their up beats in a special place. (Jazz swing, in the pocket, or soniquete, etc).
But the feel of that tapping does not have to change the meter in any special way. Think like you play whatever it is, but your foot goes either "(1)&2(&)3&" for 3/4 time feel, or it is going "(1)&ah,(2) &ah" for the 6/8 feel, AGAINST what you play. Notice where in the 3/4 feel the numbers land. So your foot actually has to feel that too: tap TAP, TAP tap....tap TAP, TAP tap... hope you understand the emphasis there. The palmas should be feeling that too. But the 6/8 feel does not have that, and that is an important distinction to make, but very subtle just listening on the surface.
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